Harry Potter and the Great Cthulhu
by Keith B. Real
Summary: Voldemort is small potatoes compared to the Great Old Ones, much to he and the rest of the HP crew's dismay.
1. Chapter 1

**Harry Potter and the Great Cthulhu. **

Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room across from his friend Ron doing his astrology homework. Professor Trelawney had assigned them a complex star chart to fill out; what made it difficult was that she had caught on to their habit of guessing what the star chart should say, so now they had to actually do the work according to their books.

"This class is terrible," Harry said flipping to a page on Venus.

"Remind me why we're taking it," Ron said glumly.

Harry shrugged as he looked into the orange coals of the fireplace. Astrology was normally an easy subject and was only periodically frustrating. He supposed that was the reason they still studied it. "Once we get better at faking these charts it'll be a breeze again," Harry said.

An odd silence fell between them as they studied. Something was missing from the scene. Harry looked around the common room. It was dimly lit save for small islands of light in which fellow Gryffindors studied under as they sat in large comfortable chairs. Ron was the first to voice their thoughts. "Where's Hermione?"

Hermione should have been scolding them about cheating at astrology. Even though she hated the subject, she would object to them not taking it seriously. "Good question," Harry said. "It's a bit late for her to still be in the library."

"Knowing her, she's likely got some sort of special permission to stay late," Ron said shaking his head. "It's a wonder she still has her eyesight what with the way she's got her nose in a book all the time."

Harry pushed his own spectacles up on his nose. "I just wonder what it is she's so keen on reading about. You'd think she would run out of books after a while."

"Impossible," said Ron. "Have you looked at how many books they have in the library? And that's just Hogwarts. Who knows what they've got stashed at the Ministry. My dad said…"

The door to the common room swung open and in stepped Hermione. She had what looked to be about a dozen books clung over her back as she walked with her back bent from the weight. She trudged over to the table where Ron and Harry sat and lumped her books down on the floor. As she sat down, Harry noticed that her face was lacking a little color. Harry and Ron looked at each other for a brief moment, both expecting Hermione to say something. She remained silent. "Where have you been?" Ron asked.

Hermione seemed not to hear him at first but then her head twitched to face Ron. "Oh, I was in the library," she said softly.

"This late? Thought it closed an hour ago," Ron said.

Hermione shrugged and looked to the glowing coals of the fireplace.

"What were you researching?" Harry added. "Did you get a special late pass or something?"

Hermione continued looking into the fire. Harry was about say something to snap her out of it when she spoke. "Yes, I got a late pass. They only issue them for special occasions."

"Like when you had that time turner thing," Ron said. "I'm amazed they let anyone have things like that, much less a student." Ron had been put off about the time turner since Harry had explained it to him.

"Yes, like that," Hermione said.

Harry nodded and went back to his work. Likely Hermione was more tired than usual. She had been in the library until closing for the past few days along with studying strange books in the common room until midnight.

"I think I'll head off to bed now," Hermione said grabbing her books, slowly slinging them over her shoulder as she made her way to the girls rooms.

Ron and Harry said goodnight to her as they watched her walk off. "What was that all about?" said Ron.

"All those late hours likely caught up with her," Harry said as he scribbled something onto his parchment about the fourth house of Venus.

Ron grunted in assent and made scribbles of his own. They kept at their work for another hour as the common room emptied of students. Finally, Harry shut his book and let out a sigh. "I think that'll be all for tonight," he said gathering up his parchments. Ron nodded in agreement.

Ron was lying in his bed by the time Harry had his things straightened out. He had left some items on his bed that morning and was clearing them off and putting them in his trunk. As he stuffed a pair of socks in he noticed something amiss amongst his various possessions. The silvery slip of fabric that was his invisibility cloak wasn't where he usually left it. "Where's my cloak?" he said tom himself.

"What's that?" Ron whispered amongst Neville Longbottom's loud snores.

"My invisibility cloak, it's missing," Harry said as he rifled through his belongings, putting them out of order even more.

Ron's brow furrowed. "Well, it _is_ invisible, maybe you just can't see it."

Harry shook his head. "You know that's not how it works."

"Maybe you just misplaced it when you had your stuff out earlier," Ron said rolling back over and closing his eyes. Harry continued to search and mutter as Ron tried to sleep. After Neville made a particularly loud snort, Ron rolled back over. "You can look in the morning, just go to sleep," he whispered loudly.

Harry threw down a pair of socks and shut the trunk hard. He heard someone mutter a curse at him as he crept into bed feeling frustrated. He had likely just misplaced it, but it was one of his most important possessions and he wondered where it had gone off to. He closed his eyes after putting out his light and slept.

**To be continued. **


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two.**

Harry wore an irritated look on his face as he sat down next to Ron in the dining hall before a plate of fried eggs and bacon. He jabbed angrily at a sausage resting on a nearby plate and took a bite. "Didn't find it?" asked Ron as he tore a piece of crust off his toast.

"No."

"You suppose somebody might have nicked it?"

Harry shook his head. "Of all the people who know I've got it, none of them would steal it," he said as he ran his fingers though his messy black hair and scratched his head.

Ron looked thoughtful. "Aside from you and me, there's Hermione, Hagrid, I'm pretty sure Dumbledore knows…Sirius?"

"Mad-eye Moody," Harry said. "His eye could see through the cloak; he knew."

"You don't think Moody took it? Or is double?"

Harry shook his head and ate some bacon. "No, I remember seeing it after all of that."

"You didn't forget to pack it did you?" Ron said drinking some orange juice.

Harry shook his head again in frustration. "No, I clearly remember packing it. It was here in my trunk just the other day."

"Maybe somebody found out about it and snuck off with it after they heard you had one," Ron said excitedly as though he had solved the mystery. "Malfoy!"

Harry cringed and looked around. There was a group of Slytherins eating at their table but they seemed not to have noticed what Ron had said. "Shh, keep it down. We don't want them overhearing."

Ron nodded. "How do you think he got past the Fat Lady?" he said in a low whisper.

"Good question. He's clever when it comes to being sneaky and rotten," Harry said with a slight sneer. The idea that Draco Malfoy had stolen his invisibility cloak fit all to well. "He must have found some way."

"Maybe he had help," Ron said. "Snape?"

Harry was silent. As much as he loathed Professor Snape he doubted the man would stoop to something like helping Malfoy steal his cloak. He was more apt to have in confiscated through official channels. "Maybe, but I doubt it."

Ron finished his toast and looked around. "Where's Hermione?"

As if on cue, Hermione entered the dining room and descended the small set of stairs that led from the hall into the room proper. Like before, she was carrying a large load of books on her back. When she sat down before a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, looks of worry fell over Ron and Harry's faces. Hermione's face was pale as a full moon and there were purple rings beneath her eyes.

"Hermione are you alright?" Harry asked.

She dragged her gaze up to meet his and seemed to look past him. "I didn't get any sleep," she said wearily. Her eyes fell to her food and she looked as though she would be sick.

Ron leaned forward for a closer examination. "Cripes, you look like you got hit by a troll. Shouldn't you see Madame Pomfrey?"

Hermione shook her head. "I'm alright. I was up all night having nightmares." She picked up a fork and prodded a cooling egg.

"Nightmares? Of what?" Harry asked. Usually it was him having the nightmares and everyone asking him about it.

Hermione said nothing, she weakly raised a bit of egg and took a bite. She chewed as though eating were the last thing she wanted to be doing. Harry felt sorry for her. Their previous year had been a particularly rough one; sometimes he forgot that it was hard on other people as well. "You really should at least see Madame Pomfrey," Ron said. "She might excuse you from classes."

Harry winced slightly. The odds of Hermione going willingly to Madame Pomfrey had just dropped significantly. This was confirmed by the sudden vitality that shot through Hermione's features. "No! I've got too much work to do for classes and then I have to go to the library…"

"You're going to see her if we have to drag you," Harry said. "You're in no shape to study like this and she's likely to give you something to help you sleep."

Hermione slumped back down in her chair. "You're right…"

"Of course he's right," Ron said. "You've done enough studying for everyone in Gryffindor five times over, I think you're can afford a day off."

Hermione shrugged and pushed her plate away. It disappeared from the table. Harry and Ron exchanged worried looks when no talk of house elf rights ensued. "Say, Hermione, you haven't seen my invisibility cloak lying around have you?" Harry asked thinking that someone else's problems might distract Hermione from her own. "Me and Ron think Malfoy might have nicked it."

Her eyes darted back and forth and then up at Harry. "He did? Sounds like something he would do."

Harry nodded. "We're still wondering how he managed it."

"He can be clever when he's up to no good," Hermione said. "Likely he found out you had it and then came up with a way to steal it."

"But how?" Ron asked. "We had to spend three months brewing some disgusting potion last time we tried to sneak into another house's common room. Could he have done the same?"

Hermione nodded, her brown bushy hair fell across her tired, lined face. "With Snape's help, he could have."

Harry raised an eyebrow and pushed his glasses up on his nose. "Why would Snape help Malfoy steal my cloak? Wouldn't he just find a reason to confiscate it?"

Hermione shrugged. "Maybe he can't. Maybe he needs Malfoy to do it for him because he doesn't have any official way of doing it."

"I don't know, it just doesn't seem like Snape's style," Ron said.

Hermione sighed and stood up. "I'm going to go see Madame Pomfrey. I'll help you two worry about this later." She grabbed her load of books and staggered out of the dining room.

"We might want to get a move on too," Ron said finishing his plate.

Harry gobbled the rest of his breakfast in agreement and grabbed his bags. He followed Ron out of the dining hall thinking about he was going to make Malfoy pay for stealing his cloak.

**To be Continued. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three.**

Harry was chopping up ingredients for a potion Professor Snape had listed on the chalkboard. Snape had told them the potion would make the drinker run faster than normal for an hour after drinking it. He lit a fire under his cauldron and began adding the proper ingredients in the order Snape had said. While he was wondering why it mattered which direction he stirred the contents of the cauldron he felt a chill run up the back of his spine. He turned to see Professor Snape looming over him, scowling. "Mr. Potter, perhaps you could tell me why Ms. Granger is absent?"

Harry looked down the bench, past Ron. Hermione was indeed missing. "She was feeling sick and went to see Madame Pomfrey." Harry said. The fewer words he had with Snape, the better.

"And why did no one take the time to inform me of this development?" Snape asked.

"I think she's going to get a note excusing her," Harry said.

"There is no excuse for not informing a professor of a fellow students absence. Ten points from Gryffindor," he said walking briskly back up the front of the class.

Harry leaned over to Ron. "You know he only wanted to take ten points from us. He always finds a reason."

"Bad enough he helped nick your cloak," Ron whispered back. "Sometimes he goes too far."

An hour later Harry walked down the hall towards Defense Against the Dark Arts. All the other students walked briskly past him, all save for Ron and a group of Slytherins, including Draco Malfoy. "Hurry up Potter, you'll be late!" Malfoy shouted.

Ron was walking clumsily in an effort to keep up with Harry's slow pace. "Want me to tell Moody why you'll be late?" Ron asked.

Harry sighed as his leaden feet trudged down the hall. The taste of the botched speed potion Snape had made him drink still in his mouth. It tasted faintly of grapes. "Might as well. No sense in us both being late."

Ron nodded and walked ahead. Despite everyone moving far faster than him, and the lingering gang of Slytherins chuckling at his expense, he was glad. Hermione had taken their advice and gone to Madame Pomfrey.

As he passed the hospital wing he stopped. Moody's class was going to be rough if he couldn't move faster than a snail riding a three legged turtle. Slowly, he walked through the doors of the hospital wing. Maybe Madame Pomfrey had something that would reverse the potions effects, or least she might know a counter jinx.

"What's the matter Potter?" Madame Pomfrey asked when she saw him. "Lame yourself?"

Harry shook his head. "Snape had me drink a speed potion that was a bit off."

"That's _Professor_ Snape," Madame Pomfrey corrected him as she rummaged around in a cupboard for a small vial. "Have a swig of this."

Harry drank the vial of purple liquid. It tasted remarkably like the potion he had drank earlier. He felt his feet become lighter as he walked around, slowly regaining his former mobility. "Thanks," Harry said. "Say, how is Hermione?

Madame Pomfrey looked puzzled. "Frizzy headed girl with big teeth? I don't know, I haven't seen her since the last time you were all in here so I assume she's fine."

Harry frowned. "She didn't stop in?"

Madame Pomfrey shook her head. "No. Should she have?"

"She hasn't been sleeping well. She looked awful this morning, me and Ron told her to see you and we assumed that's why she missed potions."

Madame Pomfrey looked serious. "She's not the type to skip classes." She turned away from Harry and made her way back into the ward. "You'll miss class yourself if you don't hurry, and I've got work to do. Get going."

Harry made his way to Defense Against the Dark Arts, scratching his head and wondering what Hermione was playing at. Professor Moody gave him a curt nod as he walked in and took his seat next to Ron. He tried for a break in Moody's lecture to tell Ron that Hermione had not been in to see Madame Pomfrey, but Moody's lecture offered no opportunity.

"Forbidden Tomes," Moody said as he wrote the words on the chalkboard. "A bit different from the spell books you'll find in Diagon Alley. Can't buy them in stores, no sir. Even if you could it would be illegal."

Harry's mind began to wander back to his third year when he attempted to subdue a book Hagrid had them pick up for when he taught Care of Magical Creatures. It had gone mad and tried to take a bite out of him. "Some of the books are magical in and of themselves," Moody continued, "Best be careful opening them. Many a wizard and witch has lost their minds reading the bizarre and powerful languages of forbidden tomes." Moody went back to the board and began writing lists of what seemed to be titles. Harry briefly thought Hermione would be upset she had missed this particular lesson, seeing as how she always had her nose stuck in a book of some sort or another.

"Some of these you'll be apt to find in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library," Moody said. "Good place for them too. Like this one here," he said pointing with a crooked finger to a title. "The Necronomicon. Bound in human skin and written in a language few can read and keep sane."

Harry raised an eyebrow. Sometimes he thought it a miracle that so few students had died at Hogwarts in all the years it had been open. So many dangerous things seemed to be lying around within reach of anyone with the drive to get at them. He himself had poked around the restricted section of the library in his first year, luckily he and his friends had not read anything bound in human skin that would drive them mad.

Harry raised his hand. Something unusual for him as he did not like to attract any more undue attention to himself. "Potter," Moody said.

"What's the Necronomicon got in it exactly? Is it just a book of nasty spells?"

Moody frowned, his large magical blue eye swiveled madly. "That particular book, I'm told, contains quite a few nasty spells, yes. However, it specializes in summoning spells," Moody said looking darkly over the room.

"Summoning spells?" Harry said sounding confused.

"Spells that call up magical creatures into your service." Moody flicked his wand and a snake appeared on his desk and began to slither around. "Normally not a big deal, but I'd hazard to guess whatever can be summoned with the Necronomicon has a bit more of a bite." He flicked his wand again and the snake disappeared.

Moody continued to lecture about forbidden books. What they were usually made from, when they were published, who wrote them and how they came to be registered as forbidden. Harry's mind had wandered back to thinking about where Hermione had gotten off to. She had not gone to Madame Pomfrey's, unless of course Madame Pomfrey had forgotten seeing her. So the question was, where had Hermione gone and why had she skipped class?

"Do you suppose we should say something to her about it?" Ron asked in the hall as they headed to lunch.

Harry shrugged. "I don't know. For now, let's see what happens. If she gets worse we'll have to say something I suppose. Probably to Professor McGonagall." Harry felt a bit like a sell-out, plotting to tell a teacher about Hermione skipping classes.

"Odd that she would lie. Maybe she forgot and fell asleep in a hall someplace," Ron said.

"Yeah," Harry said. "I hope so."

**To be Continued. **


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four.**

That evening did not do much to calm Harry and Ron's worries about Hermione. Harry and Ron were sitting in the common room playing chess. When Hermione entered they expected her to sit down and speak with them as she usually did, however she walked past them with scarcely a glance and headed to the girls dormitories.

Harry and Ron exchanged worried glances. She had been loaded with books and looked just as unhealthy as before. Clearly she had not seen Madame Pomfrey. "What time is it?" Ron asked.

Harry looked at his watch. "Ten. The library closed an hour ago."

"Do you think she was in the library all day?" Ron asked, looking towards the door Hermione had gone through.

"Without someone thinking it odd she was in there the whole time? Unless she's got some special pass that allows her to spend all of her time in the library, I don't see how a professor hasn't noticed her and sent her off," Harry said.

Ron told his knight to move to E5, putting Harry's bishop in danger. "Something's going on. She just gave us one chilly shoulder," Ron said.

"Do you think she's mad we told her to go see Madame Pomfrey?"

"That could be. If we had your cloak we could follow her. She goes to the library after classes, we could at least see where she goes after it closes up."

Harry told his bishop to move out of the way of Ron's knight. "Right but Malfoy took it remember?"

Ron's pawn took Harry's bishop. "Did he?"

"Of course he did. Haven't we been over this?"

Ron frowned. "I've been thinking about that actually," Ron said studying the board half heartedly, "I'm sure Malfoy would steal your cloak if he could, and I'm also sure that Snape wouldn't want you having one…if either of them knew you even had it."

"Maybe they found out somehow…" Harry said looking at the chess board and furrowing his brow over how badly he was being beaten.

"How?" Ron asked a little louder than he had to. "How did they find out? Who do we know that knows would tell anyone?"

"Alright, fine," Harry said getting a little annoyed. "Let's say Snape and Malfoy had no part of it, where is the cloak? You think I lost it?"

"No, I think it was stolen…or rather borrowed without your permission."

"Borrowed? But who would…" Both looked toward the girls rooms, revelation spreading over Harry's face. Harry looked back to Ron, his eyebrow raised. "You're saying Hermione took my cloak? Why?"

"Can you think of a better way to stay in the library until after it closed, and to duck classes all day?" Ron said.

"Ah," Harry said raising a finger, "Malfoy would have just as much trouble getting into my room as Hermione would. Girls can't get into the boy's rooms. They're magically guarded."

Ron shook his head and gestured for Harry to make his move. "You've known her how long and you think a little thing like that would stop her? I hate to admit it, but she's five times better at magic than we are put together. If anyone could fool that particular charm, it's her."

Harry told his pawn to move forward. "Well then if she wanted my cloak, why didn't she just ask? I would have lent it to her."

Ron seemed to agree. "I'm sure you would have, but how about now? With her acting like she has been would you take it back?"

"Are you saying she knew something like this was going to happen?" Harry said, wondering how sound Ron's logic was.

Ron took Harry's pawn with his rook and put his king in check. "Check. And yes, I think she was planning on this leading somewhere we wouldn't like."

Harry sighed with frustration. "Like you said, we've known her how long? This is a bit out of step for her don't you think?"

Ron seemed to not know what to say. Her scratched his short red hair and thought for a moment. "No, not really."

"How's that?" Harry asked wondering just where Ron was going with this.

"I'm not sure how to say this," Ron took a breath. "She seems like a grade A student, an over-achiever, a goodie-goodie, you know what I mean right?" Harry nodded. "Well…have you ever wondered why?"

Harry moved his king. "I didn't think there had to be a why. Plenty of kids are like that for no real reason. They just want to do good in school."

Ron smiled unhappily. "Yeah, well, I don't know much about muggle school, but in magic school, knowledge really _is_ power. Quite literally."

Harry nodded slowly, studying Ron's face. "So you're saying Hermione is power hungry and will do what it takes to learn as much magic as she can?"

Ron shook his head. "Nothing _that_ dodgy, but she does seem to enjoy school a bit much."

"Well if she enjoys school then why is she risking expulsion by sneaking around in the boys dorms, stealing cloaks, skipping classes and staying late in the library?"

"Do you think people like You-Know-Who and Dumbledore got to be like they are by sticking to the curriculum?" Ron said moving his queen to check mate Harry.

"So what do we do? How do we get my cloak back and put some sense back into Hermione?"

"Still got the Marauder's Map?"

Harry smacked his forehead. The simplest way to locate Hermione and he had forgotten all about it. "I didn't check to see if it was stolen."

"If you've still got it, I say we use it to confront her. She can't hide from us if we've got that to track her with," Ron said.

"Let's go see if it's been nicked," Harry said getting up and heading up to his room with Ron. "It's about time for bed anyway."

**To be continued. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five.**

"It says she's in the library," Harry said pointing to the spot on the Marauder's Map labeled Hermione Granger. "And if I'm not mistaken…"

"She's in the forbidden section," muttered Ron. "Still think she didn't nab your cloak? How else would she be in there?"

Harry pulled out his wand, "Mischief managed," he said as the markings on the map disappeared and he folded it up. So what's the plan? We wait outside the library after it closes and get her?"

Ron shrugged and leaned against the brick wall of the stairwell. The sun was going down and fewer students were wandering about the castle. No one would be near the library when it closed, much less an hour after it shut its doors. "That's about the size of it," Ron said.

"Fine. Let's get something to eat first." Harry headed towards the dining hall with Ron following. They sat down at their usual place, acutely aware of the empty space Hermione would normally occupy. Both ate little, their appetites small due to what they were about to do.

During his light meal, Harry noticed that there were gaps in the benches of the Slytherin table. He also caught site of a few empty spots at Ravenclaw. He downed a glass of pumpkin juice and looked to Ron who had also finished. "Ready?"

"Not really," said Ron looking pale. He stood up first and waited to follow Harry's lead.

"A lot of Slytherins and Ravenclaws seem to be missing," Harry said as they walked through the halls towards the library. He was desperate for something else to think about aside from Hermione.

"Odd," said Ron, not knowing what else to say.

They arrived at the library early and occupied themselves with talk of quidditch and who would win the next world tournament. When the librarian left, locking the door, they wandered down the hall as though they were headed somewhere. After the librarian had passed, they returned to their vigil.

Harry checked his watch. It was time for Hermione to leave, assuming she kept a schedule. Five minutes passed, no Hermione. Ten minutes, still no Hermione. Half an hour went by and still Hermione had not left the library. "She would have to pick the night we come to get her to be the longest night she spends in there," Ron said scowling.

Harry pulled out the Marauder's Map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good," he said, tapping it with his wand. The map opened up revealing the locations of everyone in the castle. Harry looked to the library to confirm what he suspected. "She's not in there."

"What?" Ron said sounding annoyed. "Where is she then?"

"I'm looking," Harry said scanning the map for Hermione's label. Harry's eyes grew wide when he found here. "What the bloody…"

"What is it?" Ron said looking over Harry's shoulder. "Oh," Ron's look of bafflement matched Harry's. According to the Marauder's Map, Hermione was on the other side of the lake, near the Forbidden Forest. Around her were about a dozen and a half names, some Harry recognized as being Slytherins and Ravenclaws.

"What's going on?" Harry said looking to Ron.

Ron shook his head slowly. "I have no idea. Her hanging around a bunch of Ravenclaws I could see…sort of, but there are Slytherins in that crowd."

Harry's mind raced. He didn't have his cloak, so spying on them via invisibility was not an option. "Come on," Harry said breaking into a run towards the Gryffindor tower. Ron followed at his heels and soon they were in their room, with Harry digging around for his broom. "We'll use this," Harry said.

They sped out of the tower and made a detour by the quidditch locker rooms to get a broom for Ron. Airborne, they set off to the spot where the Marauder's Map told them Hermione would be. Flying low over the Forbidden Forest with Ron right behind him, Harry floated silently towards the gathering place. Taking cover in a large pine tree, Harry and Ron watched an odd scene develop.

Hermione stood at the front of a semi-circle made up of younger Slytherins and Ravenclaws. None looked to be above their third years. They were circled around a large bonfire that Hermione was throwing strange colored powders into. Under her arm she held a rolled up parchment, in her free hand, her wand.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'leh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" She said loudly to the group.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'leh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" they said back.

"What in the bloody hell are they saying?" Ron whispered to Harry, the words sending chills down both their spines.

"I have no idea," Harry whispered, suddenly frightened. "Were there even any vowels in that?"

Hermione held her wand aloft, a purple glow began to emanate from the tip. "In his house at R'leh dead Cthulhu waits dreaming," she shouted to the group.

They responded, "Cthulhu fhtagn! Cthulhu fhtagn!"

"That is not dead which can eternal lie, And with strange eons even death may die," Hermione shouted louder.

"Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'leh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" The group shouted back and began to slowly chant, ""Cthulhu fhtagn, Cthulhu fhtagn, Cthulhu fhtagn, Cthulhu fhtagn."

Harry felt goose bumps appear on his arms and he felt the urge to slink back into the trees and hide. Any thought he might have had about interrupting Hermione's gathering had vanished. She was exuding an air of authority and power and she seemed to have the younger wizards in a thrall, much the same way Dumbledore had whenever he made a speech. "Let's get out of here," Ron said, his voice sounding soft and distant.

"Yeah, let's," Harry said getting on his broom and flying low back in the direction he came

Back at the castle, Ron and Harry huddled together over the Marauder's Map, studying the names of Hermione's new friends. "Anyone you know?" Ron asked.

"Not well," Harry said, his mind still going back to the awful chanting and making him shudder.

"We need to tell someone about this," Ron said sounding as frightened as Harry felt.

"Who can we tell that won't get Hermione in trouble?" Harry asked.

"I think she's already in trouble," Ron said.

"We can try Hagrid in the morning," Harry said. "No classes Saturday.'

Ron nodded hastily. "Right. Let's get to bed."

**To be continued. **


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter Six**

Hagrid's hut was as cluttered as ever. The half giant stared at Ron and Harry with an upturned eyebrow as Fang groaned on the floor, drooling. "If it were anyone else telling me this, I'd tell them to go jump in the lake and hug the giant squid," Hagrid said.

"I'm telling you, we saw it," Harry said. "We don't know what she was trying to accomplish but when they chanting started, we both began to feel…strange."

"Was she casting a curse on you?" Hagrid asked.

"I don't think so," Ron said. "I don't think she knew we were there."

Hagrid scratched his shaggy head. "I've heard of spells that affect an spot, as opposed to specific people…maybe it was something like that?"

The two boys shrugged. They hadn't expected Hagrid to know about what sort of magic Hermione had been performing, in truth, they didn't know what to expect from Hagrid. They simply had to tell someone about what was going on, and Hagrid was the one person they trusted most at Hogwarts. "Maybe. We don't feel any different, not really," said Harry. Thinking about the chants Hermione had been leading still made Harry queasy. He couldn't quite remember the words…he remembered one though. "She seemed to be going about someone or something called…Cthulhu. That mean anything to you Hagrid?"

"Cthulhu, eh?" Hagrid frowned. "Doesn't seem too familiar. I could look into it for you if you like though,"

"Only if you want," Said Ron, not believing Hagrid would be of much use in that fashion. "We were thinking that you might have an idea what to do about this without getting Hermione into trouble."

Hagrid sighed. "I could talk to her I suppose. Let her know that we know and we'll tell if she doesn't stop; that might straighten her out."

"And if it doesn't?" Harry asked.

"I'll have to go to Dumbledore," Hagrid said, sounding forlorn. "She's breaking all sorts of rules by sneaking into your room, going into the restricted section, staying out late, and building fires that big near the Forbidden Forest. All that together would at least get her suspended…maybe even expelled."

"Expelled?" Harry and Ron said at once.

"Aye. Depends on what magic she's working I'd wager." Hagrid's face fell, "I doubt it's anything good if it came out of the forbidden section."

With that, they said goodbye to Hagrid. Walking across the lawn towards the school, both lamented their decision to tell Hagrid. "Expelled," Ron said. "That's as good as dead to Hermione."

"Why would she take such a risk then?" Harry said angrily.

Ron shook his head. "We need to find out what spell she was working."

"And how are we going to do that?" Harry asked. "The only people we could ask that would know, would have Hermione expelled."

Ron smiled. "Terrance Beetlebalm."

"Who?" said Harry looking confused.

"First year Ravenclaw. Skinny, yellow hair, kind of quiet. I saw his name on the Marauder's Map and recognized him at the lake. We could ask him, or any of the rest that were there that night," Ron said flatly.

"What if he doesn't want to tell us anything?" Harry said.

"We're fourth year Gryffindors, he's a first year Ravenclaw. We'll make him talk."

Harry looked worried. "Nothing too serious I hope?"

"We'll get as serious as we have to be," Ron said. "This is Hermione we're talking about."

Harry nodded. "If we interrogate him, Hermione will be onto us." He adjusted his glasses. "We could just ask her directly. Tell her what we saw."

"She'd either lie or jinx us into next week," Ron said. "This way, we'd have some time. Plus, you or I could learn a memory charm or two and make it so Terrance doesn't remember telling us anything."

Harry had seen a memory charm in action during his second year when Professor Lockheart had attempted to blast them both to keep them from telling the world he was a fraud. He had even heard about wizards who's job it was to alter the memory of muggles who had seen too much. "Sounds like a plan. We'll use the map to catch him alone."

"Just as soon as one of us can cast a memory charm. If Hermione finds out about us being onto her, we're through," Ron said.

Harry nodded. The thought of them dueling Hermione didn't sit well. Not only did he have no desire to hex his friend, he knew he and Ron would be on the receiving end of most of the jinxes. If she had been learning spells from books such as the Necronomicon, the experience would be unpleasant indeed.

**To be continued. **


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter Seven.**

They spent the rest of Saturday night trying to learn a memory charm. Neville Longbottom would have grown tired of hearing the word _Obliviate_ shouted at him half a dozen times if, in the end, he remembered any of it. "There, I think that did it," Ron said, lowering his wand.

"Did what?" Neville said, looking confused.

"What we've been working at for the past few hours," Harry said.

"What have you been working on? What time is it?" Neville asked looking around.

Harry briefly wondered if Neville was faking it in order to be let out of guinea pig duty, but then remembered that he wasn't that clever. "It's about eleven," Harry said.

"Eleven? Wha-how did it get so late?" Neville said looking as confused as ever. Harry opened his mouth to explain but Ron shook his head and made a zipping motion across his lips.

They went to bed shortly after telling Neville some lie about him drinking a potion that had expired. Before going to sleep, Harry put the Marauders Map inside his pillow case. Why Hermione hadn't nicked it along with his cloak, he wasn't sure, but he was taking no chances about her changing her mind and coming back for it.

Ron and Harry were up early, thinking they might need as much of the day as possible to catch Beetlebalm alone. They were wrong. Shortly after breakfast the map showed him making his way towards the dungeons, in the vicinity of Snape's office and potions classroom. Luckily, Snape was in another part of the castle. "Let's go," Harry said as they set off to corner Terrance Beetlebalm.

The split up upon entering the dungeons. Ron was to go down the hallway and make a left, putting him in the same corridor as Beetlebalm. Harry, meanwhile, would go the long way around to come on him from the front. A minute later, Harry could see Beetlebalm walking towards him down the dimly lit hallway; behind him, Ron leaned against the wall casually. "Terrance," Harry called out as he walked towards the skinny blond boy. His pale skin made him stand out in the dim light. Terrance's eyes widened when he realized it was Harry Potter who had hailed him. Far from being a star struck admirer, he seemed unsettled that Harry was coming at him. He turned on his heel and made to walk away, only to run into Ron.

"Where are you going Terrance?" Ron asked grabbing him by the shoulder and leading him forcefully back towards Harry. Terrance squirmed but wasn't strong enough to break Ron's grasp. Harry wasted no time in removing the boys wand. Ravenclaws were notorious for knowing spells beyond what their years would suggest.

"W-what do you two want?" Terrance said sounding scared.

"Just some answers," Harry said as they dragged the terrified boy down the hall and into a broom closet. It was dark and cramped inside the small room. Harry flicked Terrance's wand "_Lumos," _he muttered and put the wand on a shelf as it emitted light.

"A-answers," Terrance stammered. "About what?"

"Don't play dumb with us," Ron said. "We know all about your little get together the other night."

"I-I don't know what you're getting on about…" Terrance said turning paler than Harry thought possible.

"Fires, chants, Cthulhu, we know all about it," Harry said coldly. "Well, not ALL about it. You're going to fill us in."

Terrance gulped. "No I'm not. Hermione said you might catch on and try something. Do you two gits have any idea what she'll do to you if you get in her way?"

"Do you have any idea what _we'll_ do to you if you don't start talking?" Ron said grabbing Terrance's ear and giving it a twist.

"Ow! That hurt!" Terrance shouted.

"Shut up or you'll get worse," Ron said scowling.

Harry frowned. "Ron…"

"Quite Harry," Ron said. "This is for Hermione remember?"

Harry nodded and rolled his shoulders. "Right. Start talking Beetlebalm."

Terrance rubbed his sore ear. "You think that's anything compared to what she'll do to me if she finds out I told you anything?" Terrance said smugly. "You two are out of your league."

"We'll see about that," Ron said drawing his wand. "_Infernado," _he muttered, causing the tip of his wand to glow an orange red, like the coals in the common room fireplace. Harry could feel the heat from the wand on his face, even from where he stood.

"W-what are you going to do with that?" Terrance squealed.

"Guess," Ron said. "Last chance. Start talking. What was Hermione doing that night? How long has this been going on? What has she been researching in the library? What is Cthulhu?"

Harry consulted the map to make sure no one was walking by. A long silence went by as Harry studied the map, he didn't see Ron move his wand, he only looked up when her heard the screaming. The smell of burnt flesh filled his nose as he saw that Ron had touched the hot wand to the patch of skin just beneath Terrance's neck. The boy's hands shot up to cover the wound. "Y-you burned me!" he shouted.

Ron nodded coldly. "It's only going to get worse for you the longer this goes on."

Terrance shoved his way towards the door but Ron shoved the skinny boy back into the wall, hard. He tapped Terrance's other ear with the wand, making the boy scream and cringe. "Ron, that's too much!" Harry said.

"The hell it is. He's going to tell us what he knows or else. Don't you care about…"

"That's not what I meant," Harry said. "The burns will show. People will ask questions. Hermione will ask questions."

A smug smile spread across Terrance's strained face. "Y-yeah. Hermione will fix you two."

Ron grinned and pulled out a small jar from his robes. "Burn ointment. Madame Pomfrey gave me a jar when my wand was broken during my second year. I got a lot of use out of it but, as you can see, I've got enough left over to cover up anything we do to you."

"I-I'll tell Hermione," Terrance muttered.

"Memory charms," Harry said. "You won't even know you told us anything."

Terrance thought and moment and gulped. "T-then I won't remember you hurting me. Go on! Do your worst! If you're just going to heal me and make me forget…and I'll tell if you don't…" Terrance was sweating and looked terrified, but a sense of self satisfaction had also spread across his features.

Ron coughed. "Oh, we'll heal your burns alright. At least the ones that are fit to talk about in public."

Terrance frowned. "What?"

"Picture this Terrance," Ron said smiling. Harry had begun to grin knowingly as well. "You were walking down that hall like you were, suddenly you're a few feet from where you were last standing, you don't know how you got there. You try to walk, only walking is a bit difficult. You see…how should I put this…it's tough to walk when your _other_ wand has been burnt to a crisp for no apparent reason."

Terrance looked as though he would faint. "Y-you wouldn't."

"If I thought it would save Hermione from herself, believe me, I would," Ron said flatly. "What's it like out there?" Ron asked Harry.

"Looks like we're still clear. Sunday, not much reason for anyone to be down here. You've got time."

Terrance began to shake uncontrollably. "A-alright. I'll tell you everything. Just zap my memory good, a-and, don't let her know it was m-me."

"We'll do nothing of the sort," Harry kindly. "Now, tell us all you know."

**To be continued. **


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter Eight**

Any relief they may have felt at Hermione's early return to the Gryffindor common room had long since been slain by the information they had been given by Terrance Beetlebalm. Hermione had less books with her this time, although it was still an enormous amount. Her face was just as pale as it had been and the dark rings under eyes were still present. Without casting so much as a sideways glance at them, she walked straight towards her room.

Harry and Ron were both on the pale side as well. The news they had received that morning had unsettled them; made them see the world a little bit differently. No longer was it a place of mystery and wonder, a place where they could face any danger and overcome it; now it was looking a little bleaker, more sinister.

"If what he said was true, we HAVE to tell someone other than Hagrid," Harry said, looking down at his untouched homework; a half finished parchment on the properties of weirwood.

Ron was shaking his head. "They'll expel her for this, I know it."

"By all accounts, we should have been expelled ourselves by now, what with all we've done. Stole that car, wrecked that willow tree, knocked out Snape, they won't expel her," Harry said sounding as though her weren't so sure.

"Did you hear Beetlebalm? Did you hear what it means to do once it's awake? 'ravage and slay across the world'. Did you hear all of that?" Ron said, his ears turning red.

"All the more reason to tell someone and put a stop to it," Harry said, too loudly. A few Gryffindors turned their heads from their work but quickly went back to their own business. "If that thing only turns out to be half as nasty as Terrance said, Hogwarts, at the very least, is in a lot of trouble."

Ron frowned. What Harry said made sense but…"Think about Hermione," Ron said.

"I am thinking about Hermione," Harry said sternly.

Ron smiled serenely. "Oh really? Well, then to save yourself some words, instead of telling this whole story to Dumbledore or McGonagall, just walk up to her, pull out your wand and shout _Avada Kedavra!" _

Several people in the common room flinched at the sound of the dreaded killing curse, including Harry. "Calm down Ron!" Harry hissed, "Fine, we'll handle things your way, but if we can't stop this then we have to turn her in. It'll kill us all, and probably her too, if her plans go through."

The plan in question, as told by Terrance Beetlebalm, was to awaken a monster that slept beneath the lake. "The Great Cthulhu, lies dead but dreaming in his city of R'lyeh. It's beneath the lake, or at least a passageway leading to it. I'm not sure how it works exactly, Hermione isn't keen on giving low level wizards like me details," Terrance had said beneath the threat of castration. Once it was awake and free, it reward the faithful as it "Raved and slew across the world."

Terrance had also related how Hermione had gathered such a following. Apparently, her reputation for being studious and knowing a lot of magic had spread. This had surprised Harry, who had assumed that the only person with a reputation around Hogwarts was him. Using this, she had started a multi-house study group in which she had slowly introduced the secret to her success; The Great Old Ones, most specifically, Great Cthulhu. While building and maintaining her little cult, Hermione had been studying forbidden tomes from the library's restricted section.

"Convenient how we had that lesson on forbidden tomes and how they contained summoning charms. How much would you like to bet Hermione has been reading the Necronomicon?" Harry said flatly.

Ron nodded. "Funny how that works isn't it. Now all we need is a lesson in how to put an end to this silliness without getting Hermione expelled."

Harry nodded. "You think your theory about her was right?"

"Which one?"

"The one about her being power hungry. Do you think that's why she's doing it? It's very out of character for her," Harry said.

"This whole term has been out of character," Ron said, returning to his homework in an effort to get some of it done. "I'm not completely convinced she's power mad though," he said after a moment. "Maybe that time turner actually did drive her nutty," He looked at Harry. "How are you feeling by the way?"

Harry frowned. "Not good, but it's got nothing to do with that time travel nonsense last term."

"Do you believe what Beetlebalm was saying…I mean, the larger part of it, not just us being eaten by a monster under the lake?"

"You mean that all of creation is at the mercy of evil monsters that don't care a whit for our lives? True or not, I'm planning on using a very precise memory charm on myself; I'd rather forget that bit."

Ron nodded gravely. "My thoughts exactly."

They did their homework in silence, unsure of what to say next. When the common room cleared out a bit more, Ron spoke up. "So, what do you think we should do now? Aside from run to Dumbledore."

Harry felt his temper surge but he buried it. Now was not the time. "I suppose we should first tell Hagrid. Maybe he actually came through on what he said he would do and has info for us."

"More than what Beetlebalm had? If he did, he'd likely go right to Dumbledore with it," Ron said gritting his teeth. "Damn, I'd forgotten about that part. Looks like you might get your way."

Harry rolled his eyes. "We'll talk to Hagrid the first chance we get. I'll let you do the talking if that'll make you feel better."

"Alright," Ron said.

The next day, Harry and Ron walked briskly across the grounds towards Hagrid's cabin. Ron knocked loudly on the door and stood patiently with Harry, listening for the half-giant's footsteps approaching the door. Ron knocked again after hearing nothing. "Where is he? He said he would be here didn't he?"

Harry thought back to when Hagrid had told them when he would be free to speak with them next. This was the right day and time, but no Hagrid. "It wouldn't be the first time he was late," Harry said.

Ron leaned against the door while Harry sat down on the step. "We'll just have to wait for him," Ron said.

And wait they did. For three hours they sat in front of Hagrid's expecting him to show up at any moment with news. When it came time for dinner, they decided he wasn't coming. "Are you sure this is when he said to meet him?" Ron asked again as they sulked off.

"Sure I'm sure. Unless one of those memory charms backfired on me," Harry said, wondering if that was indeed the case. The two rounded a bend after entering the castle and nearly ran into Filch. The caretaker was white as a sheet and fidgeting, not like his usual, hateful, self.

"You two! Get your arses into the Great Hall now!" he shouted, grabbing them by the backs of their robes and shoving them along. They exchanged confused glances as Filch hauled them along. Their confusion didn't end upon reaching the hall. Everyone was seated at the tables, silent, with no food in front of them. Harry and Ron could feel the eyes of what looked to be the entire school on them. Looking up to where the teachers sat, Harry noticed that all were present, many looked as gaunt and pale as Harry and Ron had been in the past few days. All looked upset, with a few sporting red rimmed eyes. All save for Dumbledore and Hagrid, who were noticeably absent.

They took their usual seats next to Hermione after Filch let them go. Hermione turned to look at them, her gaze made them both pause. Unlike everyone else in the hall, Hermione did not look confused or distraught. She fixed them both with a stare that was full of contempt and self-satisfaction. Harry and Ron took their seats grudgingly and looked up towards the front of the room. Dumbledore walked into the room, his long white beard swaying slightly. The entire hall began to bubble with murmurs and whispers at the site of him. Even the Slytherin table was abuzz, more so than usual.

What had set the students off was the look Albus Dumbledore sported on his face. Normally, Dumbledore was a pillar of strength; when something awful was happening, Dumbledore never seemed shaken. Now, he seemed quite shaken indeed. His wrinkled skin seemed more wrinkled, whiter. Harry and Ron hadn't thought it possible for someone to look so old.

Dumbledore cleared his throat and stood up a little straighter. "I'm afraid I'm not feeling well enough to make much of a speech, so I'll get down to it," he began sounding nearly as bad as he looked. "Rubeus Hagrid…is dead."

**To be continued…**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter Nine.**

Harry and Ron sat on the edges of their respective beds. Neville and Seamus were off somewhere. Classes had been cancelled for the week owing to the death of Hagrid. Neither Ron, nor Harry had spoken a word to one another since Dumbledore's announcement earlier that day. There had been nothing to say.

Ron looked up at Harry from staring at the floor. "She's gone too far. We can't protect her anymore."

Harry nodded. "Do you think Dumbledore knows?"

"If he did don't you think he would have done something? She walked out of there right along with everyone else and he didn't give her so much as a second glance," Ron said.

"Then let's go tell him," Harry said standing up. Ron nodded and followed Harry out the door and into the Gryffindor common room. The place was empty, the fireplace hadn't been cleaned out, charred logs still remained likely due to the house elves taking the day off. A sign of how much Hagrid's death had impacted Hogwarts.

"We don't even know how he died," Harry said weakly. "Maybe it wasn't her…"

"Where are you two headed?" Hermione's voice said haughtily from the corner to their left. Both Harry and Ron nearly jumped out of their skins upon hearing her. She stepped into the center of the room, victory illuminating her emaciated features. "Off to tell Dumbledore no doubt?"

Ron drew his wand and Harry followed suit. "Exactly. And you had better get out of our way or we'll make what the aurors do to you seem like…" Ron was cut off by Hermione drawing her own wand. Sparks shot from the tip, hitting Ron's wand and sending it flying.

"Shut up Ron. You don't stand a chance against me," Hermione said. "You still have to say your spells out loud I'll bet."

Harry lowered his wand. He might get a chance to use it and didn't want it blown out of his hand before that chance came. "What do think you're doing Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Terrance already told you everything," Hermione said. "Something he's very sorry for, trust me."

Ron looked back at Harry with a worried look. "Why did you kill Hagrid?"

Hermione smiled. "He found out what we were up to and was going to go to the ministry," Hermione said. "And it wasn't me exactly who killed Hagrid."

Ron and Harry exchanged puzzled looks. "The ministry?" Ron said, "Why didn't he go to Dumbledore first? Speaking of which, you won't be able to hide this from him much longer, even if we don't tell him."

Hermione threw back her head and laughed. The confidence in which she did so unnerved both Harry and Ron to the core. Hermione wouldn't laugh at Dumbledore without good reason. "Neither of you has any idea of how beaten you really are, I love it," she said. "First of all, Hagrid did go to Dumbledore first. He told him all about what I was doing and then offered to go tell the ministry for him. That's how Dumbledore knew to kill Hagrid before that could happen."

Harry and Ron's faces both went blank as their insides went cold. "W-what?" Ron said.

"I'll spell it out for you, Ron," Hermione said. "Dumbledore knows all about Great Cthulhu and the portal to R'lyeh beneath the lake. He's the one who explained the dreams Great Cthulhu sent me and directed me on how to read the words written in the Necronomicon."

"You're lying," Harry said, knowing that wasn't the case.

Hermione smiled. "Go ahead and ask him yourself sometime. If you'd rather hear it from him, then that's fine with me. Don't threaten to make trouble for him though, if you manage to convince him that you'll be a problem then what happened to Hagrid might happen to you."

Ron's ears turned a deeper shade of scarlet. "Fine…what did he do to Hagrid exactly? I heard something about a magical creature accident…" That had been the story they had barely heard Dumbledore tell them while the knowledge of Hagrid's death had muffled everything.

Hermione smirked. "From the remains you would certainly believe he was attacked and shredded by one of his pets…truth be told, Dumbledore turned him inside out."

Both Harry and Ron thought they might be sick. "What?" Harry shouted.

"He turned him inside out," Hermione said. "I wish I had been there to see it, I can only imagine what that must have been like to witness."

Harry and Ron both felt as though they had been punched. It was all too much. Neither wanted to believe what they were hearing, but nothing in Hermione's demeanor said she was lying. "I highly suggest you both just keep your heads down and your mouths shut. You don't know who is with us and who isn't after all. If there's anything you wanted to do before you met your ends, I'd recommend doing it." Hermione said.

"You're not going to give us that 'join us or die' bit?" Ron asked, glaring at her darkly.

Hermione shook her head. "No. Great Cthulhu sends dreams to those he deems worthy. You two will be among those slain when R'lyeh rises from the sea and Great Cthulhu ravages and slays across the world while the faithful are rewarded. You can either die relatively painlessly then, or quite horribly much sooner. It's really up to you." With that, she turned swiftly on her heel and headed out of the common room.

Ron and Harry looked at one another, each hoping the other had an idea. "What do we do?" Harry asked.

Ron shook his head. "I have no idea," he said walking across the room to pick up his wand. "You could try writing Sirius but I have a feeling they'd catch that. I don't think she was lying about Dumbledore."

"I don't want to confirm it either," Harry said. "As dumb as it sounds, I know she's telling the truth and I don't know what I'd do to hear it from him." Harry hung his head, knowing he wasn't sounding like himself at all.

"C'mon, let's take a walk. We can decide if we want to die now or later," Ron said, walking out of the common room with Harry following behind.

Harry grabbed the back of Ron's robes and spun him around to look him full in the face. Ron looked at his friend with apprehension, wondering if Hermione's advice on them doing what they always wanted before dying was about to take a horrible turn.

Harry had a manic grin spread across his face. "Voldemort!" he said, practically hissing the name.

Ron flinched at the sound of the Dark Lord's name. "What?"

"Voldemort Ron, Voldemort. I don't care how mighty this Great Cthulhu is, do you think Voldemort is going to want to share power with anyone? Even if they are an unfathomable monster from outside our reality?"

Ron shook his head. "If Dumbledore is in on this what makes you think it's beyond…You-know-who? Really…"

Harry shook Ron. "That's just it. Those two wouldn't cooperate on this, even if Dumbledore isn't the man we thought he was, it's a good bet Voldemort still hates and fears him. They might not be working together."

Ron frowned. "And if they are?"

"Then we die on our feet fighting."

"Or inside out," Ron said.

Harry let go of Ron. "I realize that this is the longest of long shots but we have to try and find a way to contact him."

Ron sighed. "This is insane. Fine, fine. We'll try and have your worst enemy come and save the world for us, sounds good. Maybe we can talk to Malfoy and go through his dad, he's a Death Eater right?"

"This could blow up in our faces from step one," Harry said.

"It was your idea," Ron said. He sighed and leaned on the door. "In the mean time, I say we take Hermione's advice and do what we likely won't ever get a chance to do ever again."

Harry nodded. "If Cho Chang turns me down, would you mind if I made out with your sister?"

Ron glared at Harry. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it. "So long as I can make out with Cho if Hermione doesn't want to."

Harry blinked. "Hermione? After all this you want to make out with Hermione?"

Ron nodded. "Sure, why not? Just because she's gone batty doesn't mean she isn't cute. I mean, she looks a bit off now, but still…"

Harry shook his head. "Good luck on that. We'll meet back here later and talk about how we're going to talk to Voldemort…" Harry rubbed his scar. If he stopped to think about how he was about to try and ask the man that murdered his parents and robbed him of a normal life to help him stop one of his best friends along with the man he looked up to most from summoning a monster that would end the world, he might collapse. Instead of thinking about all of that, he left the common room to find Cho Chang while Ron split off to take his chances on Hermione.

**To be continued…**


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter Ten. **

"This is never going to work," Ron said as he stood next to Harry who was attempting to corral one of the school's owls as it flapped around the owlery; almost as though it sensed the odious task Harry had in mind for it.

"Aside from sending an owl straight to Voldemort, I can't think of a better way than to ask Lucious Malfoy to forward the thing," Harry said, finally catching the tiny white owl.

"He might think it's a trick and just throw it away," Ron said.

"He might, but the other option is sending it straight to Voldemort, and I doubt he's accepting many owls these days."

Ron nodded, "Good point. Even if he doesn't believe us, he'll likely tell You-Know-Who you sent the letter. If You-Know-Who knows anything about this Cthulhu thing, he might talk to you."

Harry sighed. "Will you just say Voldemort already? It's just a name, it won't bite you."

Ron frowned. "I'll say it when I'm ready and not before," Ron said.

Harry finished tying the note to the owl's leg and let it go out the window. He noticed that the owl was flying particularly slow, as though it were reluctant somehow. "You think that owl might be intercepted?" Harry asked.

Ron shrugged. "I doubt they'll worry about owls headed to the Malfoys. This isn't exactly something that's expected."

They left the owl tower and made their way back to the Gryffindor common room. Hermione was spending most of her days elsewhere and so they were comfortable hanging around there until nightfall, where they usually retreated to their rooms.

Classes resumed the following day. Hermione was absent at them all. Hogwarts still seemed to be grieving over the death of Hagrid and it showed in many of their professor's faces; even Snape seemed affected, he didn't bother Harry or Ron as much in potions.

For Harry and Ron, the days had become leaden with tension. Neither of them had any idea of how close Hermione was to her goal and with the revelation that Dumbledore was evil, all of their teachers and classmates were now suspect. Trelawney, Sprout, even Flitwick, were all suspect. Ironically, it was the people they had normally liked the least at Hogwarts that they were trusting the most. Draco, Filch, Snape, anyone Dumbledore never seemed to care much for all looked a little better now.

Harry and Ron were walking together after double potions across the grounds towards a hill that gave them a good view of the lake. They had taken to going everywhere together for safety reasons. Both of them turned when they heard a familiar voice. "Potter, Weasly!" Draco Malfoy shouted from behind them.

Draco was walking, alone, behind them and casting glances behind him as he went. "What is it?" Ron asked, his hand dropping to his wand.

"Relax Weasley," Draco said, holding his palms up. "My father got your letter."

"And?" Harry said, not completely trusting Draco Malfoy.

"Show some gratitude Potter, talking to you isn't exactly safe for me…she hasn't forgotten being called a mudblood."

Harry and Ron could now see the fear Draco had been trying to conceal. "How much do you know?" Ron asked.

Draco coughed. "Enough. It doesn't matter though. Father says for you to be in the Shrieking Shack tomorrow at eight o'clock. Do whatever it takes to get there." With that, Draco turned and jogged back towards the school, leaving Harry and Ron to look at one another, bewildered.

"He knows about Hermione?" Harry asked.

"The question isn't what he knows, but what his father knows. We assumed we were the first to inform You-Know-Who about what's happening here..." Ron said, rubbing his chin.

"He can't know more than us, not unless Hermione told him while trying to convert him," Harry said.

Ron shook his head. "No, remember what he said about her not forgetting? I think we still have more info than anyone at this point, unless.."

"Unless what?"

"Unless You-Know-Who is already wise to all of this. Even if he's against Dumbledore, he knows a lot about magic and probably knows about this Cthulhu R'lyeh business. All we'll likely be offering in return for his help is manpower," Ron said.

Harry sighed and rubbed his forehead. He was supposed to be thinking of ways to destroy Voldemort, not curry his favor. The cosmos truly was out of order. "The Shrieking Shack at eight…let's just hope Hermione doesn't stop us."

Ron resumed their walk around the lake with Harry following. Ron cast his glance down to the lake surface where dozens of water striders were dancing about on the surface in unknowable, insane patterns. "We're like those bugs down there on the lake," Ron said. "Maybe we'll crawl under her notice."

**To be continued…**


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter Eleven**

"_Imobulous!"_ Harry shouted as he pointed his wand at the Whomping Willow tree that guarded the secret tunnel to the Shrieking Shack. The deadly tree froze in place, it's crushing branches stopped for a limited time. Harry and Ron took the opportunity to run through the cave beneath the tree and follow it to where it exited in the old, haunted house.

Harry and Ron could hear voices as they came out into a hall. The voices seemed to be coming from a room up ahead. Pale, yellow light was pouring out the open door as well as through cracks in the walls. "They're here," a husky sounding voice said from within.

A tall, dark wizard wearing a heavily hooded black robe stepped out into the hall. He motioned for them to come over and hesitantly, they did. As they walked, Harry could barely sense Ron's fear through his own anger and apprehension. The man that killed his parents was sitting in the other room and here he was, about to ask for his help of all things.

Harry was surprised to see that Voldemort was relatively alone, aside from the man behind them and, of course, Wormtail, AKA Peter Pettigrew, AKA Scabbers. Harry and Ron were also surprised to see that Voldemort had a fully formed body. It was bald, pale, with no nose and red, slited eyes. Human was a term loosely applied to Lord Voldemort. "Harry Potter," Voldemort said in his snake-voice. "I didn't think you'd actually show up. How brave? But then, aren't all Gryffindors known for that?"

Harry wasn't sure what to say and neither was Ron, who had turned white. Surprisingly, Ron was the first of them to speak. "Y-you got our message then?" he said.

Voldemort smiled, revealing a row of tiny, pointed teeth. "Yes, I got it. A most interesting read I must say. The high and mighty Dumbledore, succumbing to the power of the Great Old Ones…ironic to say the least, although not surprising."

"How is it not surprising?" Harry asked, no trace of fear in his voice. "Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard in the world, why does he need this, this, Cthulhu thing?"

Voldemort's look of bemusement vanished and was replaced by a cold stare. "The most powerful…never mind." Voldemort crossed his long, thin hands on his lap. His plain black robes revealed that the rest of him was thin as well. "I trust you've learned at least something about what we're dealing with. With Granger not on your side though, I suppose I can't expect you two to know anything…" Harry opened his mouth to interrupt but Voldemort kept speaking. "The Great Cthulhu is a being with more power than Dumbledore, or I for that matter, will ever know, or be able to control. As long as it sleeps, lies dead, you might say, in the city of R'lyeh, we all get to live."

Harry nodded. "We know. It still doesn't explain why Dumbledore…"

"Such is the power of the Great Cthulhu," Voldemort said. "few, if any, can withstand its will. Merely looking upon its likeness for too long has been know to drive wizards insane."

"Whatever. Either way, if they manage to summon the thing, we're done for," Ron said, finally working up the courage to speak again. "What are we going to do to stop them?"

Voldemort frowned and seemed to roll his slitted eyes. "Unfortunately, _we_ won't be doing much of anything. I'd love nothing more than to rally my Death Eaters, charge onto the Hogwarts' grounds, and kill Dumbledore along with the rest of those Star Spawn worshiping mudbloods. But I can't."

"Why not?" Harry asked. "Afraid?"

Ron stepped on Harry's foot as Voldemort snarled at him. "No, you little fool. If we managed to make it past the ministry, taking on the entire Hogwarts staff with the paltry number of Death Eaters I've assembled would be akin to suicide. No, I'm afraid you two fools will have to do it."

Harry and Ron looked at one another, puzzled. "Us?" Ron said. "Hermione by herself would paint the walls with us both, not to mention Dumbledore and the rest. What are we going to do?"

"He's got a point," Harry said, hating to admit it.

Voldemort laced his long, slender fingers together and flicked his eyes between the two of them. "He most certainly does. Which is why for the next week or so, you'll both be sneaking out here for special lessons in the Dark Arts."

Both Harry and Ron's expressions widened with surprise and disbelief. "What? Me? Learn the Dark Arts from you? No," Harry said. "You murdered my parents, and you've been trying to do the same to me since I started school. I'm not learning anything from you."

Ron nudged him, hard, while Voldemort shrugged. "Have it your way Potter. I'll just have to spend extra time teaching Weasley. He might last just long enough to muck up their ritual for good…still, without me teaching you, the chance of the world ending doubles. Aren't you supposed to be the boy that _saves_ the day?"

Ron nudged Harry again, causing Harry to sigh loudly. "Alright, fine. But I don't like this."

"Neither do I Potter," Voldemort said.

"Well then that's settled. So when to we start this learning the Dark Arts stuff?" Ron asked.

Voldemort drew his wand, making the two boys flinch. "How about right now."

**To be continued…**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter Twelve**

There first lesson from Lord Voldemort, as he insisted on being called, didn't feel like much of a lesson to either Harry or Ron. To Harry, who had been galled to no end by having to put the word _Lord_ in front of _Voldemort, _it felt as though their evil tutor was simply taking out years of pent up aggression on them, rather than teaching them any magic.

Harry and Ron were both covered in bruises when they left the Shrieking Shack through the secret passage in the wall that led out by the Whomping Willow Tree. "Did you learn anything from any of that?" Ron asked Harry, as he immobilized the lethal tree with a spell before stepping out of the cave created by its roots.

"I learned that one benefit to Cthulhu killing the world is that he'll get Voldemort along with it, but other than that, no, no I didn't learn a thing. You?" Harry said.

Ron shrugged. "That spell that makes your eyes roll back into your might help. Messes a bloke right up, it does."

They did their best to make it to the Gryffindor common room without being seen. Filch would no doubt ask about their bruises, not out of concern, but a deep seated need to find them guilty of something and give them detention for it. They avoided Filch easily enough, having the Marauder's Map to aid them.

As they traveled through the halls towards the common room, both were silent. They had to meet Voldemort at the same time and place the next night. If their previous class with him was any indication of how things would go, they were doomed.

The halls of Hogwarts seemed to have lost their charm for Harry. As it was the only place he could really call home, doom didn't sound all that bad. "I just can't believe it," Harry said suddenly. "Hermione was one thing…but Dumbledore?"

Ron shrugged. "I guess I'm not all that surprised really," Ron said sadly.

"You're not? How come?"

"Well, I mean I was surprised, but like I was saying earlier, clever wizards just seem to find trouble. Voldemort was smart, Hermione was smart, so was Dumbledore…power goes right to their heads I guess. Take Hagrid for example. He wasn't that great a wizard but did he ever hurt anyone? Or Neville? What's Neville done? I don't know…"

"I know something," Harry said calm tone that did a poor job of disguising the turmoil underneath. "You're right, Hagrid was a terrible wizard and never hurt anyone. Same with Neville. No one respects Neville and Hagrid got turned inside out. Doesn't say much for good people now does it?"

"I guess that's why we're learning the Dark Arts then, isn't it?" Ron said, letting Harry speak the password to the common room. The door swung open and they walked in, slightly afraid that they might see Hermione. Looking at their former friend had become almost painful. Knowing what was and could never be again was the worst of it. Fighting some horrible monster would be just fine, if only she weren't on its side.

"Let's just go to bed," Ron said. "Bugger homework. It won't matter much in a few days."

"Right. Bugger homework," Harry said.

The next day Harry and Ron spent daydreaming in all of their classes. All of them seemed like a sad joke with no punch line. Their moods didn't stand out much. Hagrid's death had subdued most of the students and faculty. Still, hearing about how to defend against the Dark Arts seemed pointless, as they were not only learning the Dark Arts, they were doing to fight off what might be the source of the stuff itself.

When they found themselves back in the Shrieking Shack, Voldemort seemed to have concocted some vague sort of plan. He was sitting at a small, wooden table with a large parchment spread out before him. A tall white candle illuminated the shack, but not much of Voldemort's hooded face. The candlelight glinting off his red eyes was about as much of him as they could see. There were no Death Eaters in the room either, a fact that for some reason, worried Harry.

"We'll get to your lessons soon enough," Voldemort said in his hissing voice. "I think, however, a plan will be needed." He tapped the parchment and lines spread over it. At first Harry thought Voldemort had something like the Marauder's Map, but upon further examination, he could see that it didn't show people's location.

Voldemort tapped the part of the map that outlined the library. The lines on the map changed to show more of the library than of the rest of the school. Harry soon guessed that it was the magical version of a zoom function. Voldemort tapped it twice more, showing an even closer view of the library. "As you can see, this is the library," Voldemort said. "You're familiar with the forbidden section, I presume?"

Harry and Ron both nodded. "We did some research on the Philosopher's Stone…when you were trying to steal it," Harry said, glad that he could remind Voldemort of his past failure.

Ron fancied he could see Voldemort grin angrily from beneath his dark hood. "Good, good," Voldemort hissed. "Granger, I gather, used the school's copy of the Necronomicon to find the ritual to summon Cthulhu. It's also likely she still has the book."

"I take it there's another book in there on how to un-summon Cthulhu once he's summoned?" Ron said.

"Voldemort shook his head. "Once Cthulhu is awake and free from his watery grave, that's it, end of game. There is no way un-summon him once he's loose. However, there may be a spell or two in the Book of Eibon that can either counter the spell Granger intends to use, or otherwise foil it."

"The Book of Eibon?" Ron said. "Didn't Moody mention that one in class, Harry?"

Harry shrugged, not having thought much about anything Mad Eye Moody had said in the past few weeks. "He might have. What's it about exactly?"

Voldemort waved a thin, pale hand at them dismissively. "That's a question that would take a long time to answer completely. We don't have that much time, so I'll say that it's a spell book and leave it at that."

Harry and Ron exchanged dubious looks. A spell book found in Hogwart's Forbidden Section was never _just_ a spell book. "So we need to steal the Book of Eibon?" Ron said, looking a little paler than he had when he walked in. "Hermione nicked Harry's cloak. Every time we go into that section, we've had to be invisible," Ron said.

Voldemort shrugged as Harry was nodding. "Simply kill the librarian," Voldemort said. "Avada Kadavra should do the…" Voldemort's eyes flickered between the faces of the two boys and his words stopped abruptly. "Oh, alright fine. Weaklings…I'll teach you a spell that will make you invisible for a short time. Will that do?"

Both breathed a sigh of relief and nodded. "And make sure you actually teach us something this time. Last time you just knocked us around with bizarre evil spells," Harry said.

Voldemort smiled. "Fair enough. Without that book, our options are extremely limited."

**To be continued…**


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter Thirteen.**

Harry held his invisible hands in front of his face, verifying that they could not be seen. "Ron, are you there?" he whispered to the empty, dark corridor.

"Right behind you, I think anyway," Ron said.

The invisibility spell Voldemort had taught them had taken an entire night's worth of practice. The spell was actually quite difficult and Ron had made the mistake of mentioning to Harry that they likely never would have learned it in such a short amount of time without Voldemort's help. Harry had stopped speaking for over an hour after that, but had soon forgotten his irritation when it came time to steal the Book of Eibon.

They entered the library half an hour before it closed by following a first year Ravenclaw as she opened the door for a last minute checkout. Quickly, they made their way to the forbidden section and began looking for the Book of Eibon. They wouldn't actually remove it until the librarian left for the night but the less time they spent poking around for it in the dark the better.

Ron was the first to find the Book of Eibon. "Harry, it's here," he whispered, pulling the book out from the shelf an inch or so Harry would see. Harry walked over, not used to this sort of invisibility and putting great effort into not running into anything. The Book of Eibon, like most books in the forbidden section, was dark in color and looked to be made of dubious material.

When they heard the librarian leave Ron pulled the Book of Eibon from the shelf and tucked it beneath his robes. "Uh, I can still see it," Harry said, watching the floating book tucked beneath Ron's invisible arm.

Ron looked down and realized that he could see the book as well. "Oh bugger…how in the ruddy hell are we going to knick this thing when anyone can see it floating down the halls? That doesn't happen often, even in this place," Ron said in a whisper.

"Let's just get it out of the library and become visible again. Once people can see us, tuck it under your robes and we'll take it to the Shrieking Shack," Harry said, grabbing Ron by the should and tugging him along. At least he thought it was Ron's shoulder.

They walked out behind a shelf just in time to see Filch's sneering face lit up by a lantern. His wrinkled face looked older than ever and a look had filled his dull eyes that neither of them had seen before. "Floating books eh?" he said, holding up a set of manacles. "And talking too? Thought you could fool old Filch eh?"

Harry let out a loud sigh. "You know, you've been a royal git since I started here. Always taking out your problems on students…" Harry said, causing Filch to glare at the two invisible figures. "You know what? _Arvada Kadavra!_" Harry shouted, jabbing his wand at Filch. A bolt of green death fired from the tip and struck Filch in the chest, killing him where he stood.

Harry couldn't see the look on Ron's face, but judging by how the book was moving, what he had done had set him off severely. "Harry! W-what the hell is wrong with you?" Ron shouted.

Harry shot a stern look to where he thought Ron's face might be. "He's probably in cahoots with Hermione and Dumbledore. On top of that, we don't have time to be playing around. The world is about to end Ron, we can't let people like Filch get in our way anymore."

Ron said nothing and the book floated over toward the door. Harry followed Ron out into the hall and joined him as he ran down the corridors, away from the library. When they stopped it was only a few short moments before the invisibility spell began wearing off. At first only their outlines showed, then filled with transparent versions of themselves, as though they were being looked at by a lens coming onto focus.

"I don't believe you just killed Filch, Harry," Ron said flatly. Harry looked about to respond in his defense but Ron silenced him by holding up a finger. "No, don't explain, I don't want to hear it. You're right. This is the world we're talking about and he was probably one of those Cthulhu cultists anyway."

Harry nodded as Ron tucked the Book of Eibon under his robes. "Let's get to the Shrieking Shack before someone finds Filch…or Hermione finds us," Ron said.

"Should we take a look at it and see what it says?" Harry asked, following Ron.

"Let's not. I doubt it's in English and I doubt it's anything we want to hear. Even as it is we're going to need a long vacation…if we live of course."

Harry nodded as their footsteps tapped softly over the stone floor. Despite his general feelings of degradation and impeding doom, he felt strangely liberated. He had just murdered a man and hadn't felt a thing. Granted, the man was likely part of an evil plot to doom the world, but he thought he should've felt something at least. Instead he felt an odd sense of freedom he had never enjoyed before. Like nothing he did was really going to matter in the end.

_Maybe Ron feels the same,_ Harry thought. _He didn't seem quite as upset over Filch as he might have been._ "Say Ron," Harry said.

"Not now."

"What if we have to kill Hermione?"

Ron stopped and turned around. "Harry…" Ron's finger was held up as if to make a point. "Never mind."

_No more questions then,_ Harry thought.

**To be continued…**


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter Fourteen.**

Voldemort's red snake-like eyes could be seen skimming over a passage in the Book of Eibon. Harry and Ron stood quietly in front of him while two Death Eaters in black, hooded robed flanked them on either side. Frowning, Voldemort lay the large book on the table and rubbed his bald, pale head.

"It seems there is a spell that will accomplish what we desire," Voldemort said, looking at Harry. "It needs to be recited verbatim and with perfect pronunciation while Granger recites her spell."

Ron swallowed hard, working up the courage to speak. "So we're in good shape then?"

Voldemort shook his head slowly and sneered. "No. No, not at all I'm afraid. The recitation must be done within ear shot of Granger, meaning that surprise isn't an option. Furthermore, it's likely that Dumbledore and any other faculty that have sided with him will be present."

"Why doesn't Dumbledore cast the spell? Why is Hermione the ringleader here?" Harry asked.

Voldemort shrugged. "Likely Dumbledore doesn't have time to raise Cthulhu _and_ run Hogwarts. It's also possible that Cthulhu favors Granger over him…I don't know. What I do know is that while I'm chanting it'll be my Death Eaters and you two fools versus the Cthulhu cult. That includes Dumbledore."

Harry and Ron's faces fell and their shoulders slumped. Their odds of beating Dumbledore, even with the aid of Death Eaters, were about as good as beating Cthulhu itself. "So this is a lost cause then?" Ron said.

Voldemort seemed to think. His red eyes narrowed to slits, making him look more like a snake than normal. "All you have to do is distract Dumbledore. So long as I can chant, or my Death Eaters get lucky with killing Granger, it can be done. It will hinge on how well you can keep the old man busy."

The comment about killing Hermione made them both flinch. The idea of keeping Dumbledore busy was only slightly less impossible than stopping him. "Dumbledore will mop the floor with us before we draw our wands," Harry said. Even if you taught us the best spells you knew and we mastered them, we'd still be a joke to him."

"I might have some ideas for you," Voldemort said. You can go invisible; he can see through that, but it requires some doing on his part. I also know a few defensive spells that can make you hard to incapacitate. How good are you at fighting?"

"Fighting?" Ron said. "What do you mean?"

Harry smiled. Living with Dudley Dursley had taught him a thing or two about fighting. "He means if we can get close enough we should forget our wands and hit Dumbledore with our fists."

Ron seemed to still be puzzled but Voldemort was grinning. "Yes, exactly. Wizards sometimes forget they weren't born with wands. Especially old ones. You still might get blown to bits, but if you can negate his wand, his still an old man and you're two strapping young men. The odds may turn in your favor, depending on how much Dumbledore has planned for such an assault."

"So we're going to beat up Dumbledore like a couple of trolls?" Ron asked.

"I'll show you a few things," Harry said. "Something I learned from my cousin."

"See that you prepare adequately," Voldemort said. "All you need to do is keep him busy and away from me. If you can't, all is lost."

**To be continued…**


	15. Chapter 15

Authors Note:

It's looking like I'm never going to finish this story. I broke my own rule and posted it before it was all done, and now it's out there without an ending.

I propose a sort of contest. Someone, anyone, finish this damn thing for me. I'll look over what I get, reserve the right to edit a little, and then post it with full credits of course.

I'm not putting a time limit on it, so send whatever you want whenever you want, but once it's up, it's up and I'm done. Heck, I won't even rule out posting multiple endings if they're good enough.


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